Locus Standi Of Third Parties To Appeal: A Purposive Interpretation Of Section 53-B Of The Competition Act, 2002

Nandan D, School of Law, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru

ABSTRACT

The edifice of the Anti-trust law in India is based on the premise of preventing enterprises from operating in a manner that is detrimental to the prevalence of free trade and the welfare of consumers. The central scheme for the enforcement of the Competition Act, 2002, is, therefore, to deal with practices in rem and not in persona. However, the Appellate Tribunal has varied in the application of this foundational principle to matters of appeals under Section 53-B of the Act due to varied interpretation of the expression “any person aggrieved” stipulated therein. As such, this article intends to explore the rights of persons other than the parties to the proceedings before the Competition Commission of India to appeal to the Appellate Tribunal, given the broad purpose of the Act. To this end, the paper delves into the evolution of the Act, through amendments made to realise its true purpose, before analysing the varying decisions of the Appellate Tribunal. Further, the paper discusses the issue through the verdicts of the Supreme Court of India on the concept of “aggrieved person” and its interpretation in terms of Section 53-B of the Act. Through this, it can be seen that the right of third persons to appeal to the Appellate Tribunal has to be interpreted in light of the content and intent of the Act. Finally, while the article calls for a purposive interpretation of the Act, it stresses that the extent of applicability of Section 53-B must not exceed the requirements of the Act.

Keywords: Competition Act, 2002, Aggrieved Person, Appeal, Third Person, Anti-trust, Purposive Interpretation of Statutes.